


Shared Custody (The Blame the Cat Remix)

by ennui_ephemera



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Cats, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pining, lots and lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-03 06:26:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21174905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ennui_ephemera/pseuds/ennui_ephemera
Summary: When Andrew accompanies Nicky to the carnival, he didn't expect to meet a stray cat and an attractive stranger. He certainly didn't expect to enter a custody battle over the cat with said stranger, who just so happens to work for his cousin.





	Shared Custody (The Blame the Cat Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DeyaAmaya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeyaAmaya/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Shared Custody](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18627457) by [DeyaAmaya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeyaAmaya/pseuds/DeyaAmaya). 

> i had so much fun remixing this! please go read the original fic by DeyaAmaya for maximum fluff, their fic was so cute and just so good!!

Andrew hated carnivals. They were crowded and loud, and the rides were either boring or looked like they were being held together by rust and duct tape. The only reason why he was here was because Nicky wanted him to be, and because the deep fried ice cream was at least half-way decent.

The line to the food truck was long, but Andrew didn’t particularly mind waiting; he didn’t care for the people themselves, but people-watching was entertaining enough to almost take the edge off of his boredom. While Nicky was stuck waiting in lines for rickety old rides full of sweaty people, Andrew was just fine staying on the outskirts of the chaos and observing. 

A trio of circus clowns made their way past. Andrew was just wondering about their belonging in a carnival when he heard a loud crash and a streak of black shot by him. It skidded to a halt by his legs, and Andrew found that the small black smudge also had wide green eyes and a nose to sniff curiously at his feet.

“You little shit – ” a voice shouted behind Andrew. Andrew turned to find a man running towards them, waving his arms over his head. “Great, you’ve lost it.”

“Excuse me?” Andrew said, quirking an eyebrow. The man looked at him, all blue eyes and ruffled brown hair. 

“I wasn’t talking to you.” He motioned to the cat at Andrew’s feet. “That little shit stole my crepe. I was trying to _share_.”

The little shit in question blinked at them, the perfect picture of innocence. 

“I don’t see a crepe anywhere,” Andrew said. He made a show of looking around and lifting his feet to scan the ground. “Are you sure this was the cat that stole it?”

The man gaped at him like a fish. Then his face contorted into irritation and Andrew surprised himself by having to suppress a smile. 

“I don’t have time for this,” he said motioning to the cat again, this time with less patience, which was impressive because he didn’t have much to begin with. “Can you hand me my cat?”

The cat wound around Andrew’s ankles, mewling pitifully. It climbed his pant leg and knocked its head against his calf until Andrew carefully unhooked its claws from his shin and picked it up. It squirmed in his hands but Andrew held it against his chest and leveled a look at the man. “No, I don’t think I will,” he said and walked off. 

The man followed close at Andrew’s heels. “What do you think you’re doing?” 

They passed under a street lamp, the light showing Andrew what he had previously missed in the gloom by the food truck. The man’s face was scarred, deep lacerations down one side and discolored circles under his other eye. His hair, Andrew noticed, wasn’t actually brown, but a deep shade of red that was closer to auburn. 

Andrew kept walking. “Taking my cat home. Now if you don’t mind, I have to find my – ”

“Andrew!”

Nicky pushed his way through the crowd, looking thoroughly ruffled. “I can’t believe you left me in there, I thought we were going on the dragon ride. You could have at least _told_ me you wanted to leave instead of ditching me in the bathroom. I – oh.”

Nicky stopped when he saw the man next to Andrew, still grumbling about the stray cat. 

“Hi, Neil,” Nicky said cheerily.

For the second time that night, Andrew was surprised. Nicky had succeeded in somewhat distracting Neil, but instead of taking the chance to make an escape, Andrew eyed the man – Neil – up and down. He wracked his brain, trying to remember if Nicky had ever mentioned a Neil before. 

“This is my cousin, Andrew,” Nicky said, sweeping his hand toward Andrew like a hotel concierge. Andrew’s eyes narrowed to slits as Neil scrutinized him. “And Andrew, this is Neil. He works at the restaurant.”

“I know who he is,” Neil said, slanting a glare at Andrew. “He’s the guy who stole my cat.”

“It’s not your cat,” Andrew said. “It’s a stray.”

“I was planning on taking him home.” Neil made a wild snatch for the cat, but Andrew neatly stepped out of his reach. 

“Plans changed,” he said. “It’s coming with me.”

“Cat…?” Nicky asked, confused. His eyes dropped to Andrew’s chest, and widened when he saw the cat nestled in his arms, nearly invisible against Andrew’s black shirt. “Oh, that cat.”

Neil made another grab. “My cat.”

Andrew blocked him with his shoulder. “Wrong.”

Nicky looked between them. “I think I better watch the cat while you two figure this out.”

* * *

Andrew’s cat, dubbed Princess Pawsome by Nicky, stayed at Nicky’s house for a week while Andrew and Neil bickered back and forth about who was more suitable to take in a second cat.

Since the two couldn’t be trusted to be in the same room as each other without fighting, Andrew visited Princess on Fridays and weekends while Neil worked at the restaurant and he allowed Neil to see him on the other days. 

So when Neil showed up to Nicky’s house with his pressed black uniform and nametag on a Saturday night, Andrew was a little more than slightly peeved.

“Stick to your visitation days, pest,” Andrew snapped. He waved the feather toy he always brought with him for Princess to catch while he glared over him at the redheaded menace standing in the doorway. Neil gave him a dismissive look and took out a bag of treats from his pocket. Princess, a traitor to the end, went to him immediately. 

“The restaurant was overstaffed tonight so Nicky let me have the night off. I figured I’d visit since I have the time. And it looks like Princess likes _me_ better anyway.” Neil reached his hand out for Princess to sniff and gave him a few scratches behind a tufty ear. 

Not having any of that, Andrew revealed his own bag of treats and shook it. Princess’ head jerked up at the familiar sound, nose wiggling at the delicious scent of chicken and salmon bites. As Princess made his way over, Andrew leveled a smug look over to Neil. 

In retaliation, Neil shook his bag of treats again, clicking his tongue for the cat to come. Princess looked thoroughly confused.

“You don’t know when to stop, do you?” Andrew asked, running his hand through Princess’ sleek fur. 

Neil sniffed. “Not any more than you do.”

The door opened and Nicky popped his head inside. “You beat me here, Neil,” he said. “Enjoying Andrew’s company?”

“No,” Neil and Andrew said at the same time. 

“Well maybe if you stuck to your visitation days,” Andrew said snidely. 

“Or if you just admitted that Princess is better off with me.”

“Never.”

Nicky looked between them. “I take that to mean that I’ll be babysitting Princess for a little bit longer?”

* * *

Andrew really didn’t know how he got himself into this mess. He wracked his memory, tracing back the line of interactions he had with Neil, the run ins and arguments. None of it added up to _this._

Neil was a spitfire, and a stubborn one at that. He and Andrew had almost fallen into a routine; he would show up on days that were supposed to be Andrew’s to entice Princess with cat treats and flattery. They would bicker, Andrew would get annoyed that Neil was disrupting their visitation schedule, and then they’d move on and argue about something else. 

Andrew couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment visiting Princess turned into looking forward to seeing Neil. Somehow, between their fighting and using Nicky’s house a battle ground, Andrew had started to get know Neil. They shared secrets, told truths that Andrew was sure Neil had never told anyone else before, because it was the same for Andrew. Their routine included sharing a cigarette outside on the porch, so Princess wouldn’t get sick. 

For someone with a perfect memory, Andrew sure did have a hard time remembering why he was supposed to hate Neil. He was trying to steal his cat, sure, but the line was becoming more blurred every day.

The only problem, as Neil brought up during his most recent attempt to claim full custody of Princess, was that Nicky had been watching Princess for over three months now. Nicky assured them that he didn’t mind, but Neil was right. They couldn’t keep barging into Nicky’s life like this, especially since Nicky’s husband, Erik, had started developing an allergy to Princess the longer he stayed. 

Erik sneezed and Neil sent a triumphant look at Andrew. “See?” he said. “Erik’s allergies are getting worse so it would be better for Princess and Erik _and_ you, even, if Princess were to come with me.”

“How would it be better for me?” Andrew asked. 

“Oh, because of Sir’s little problem.” Neil’s face turned faux-sympathetic. “Nicky was telling me about the visit to the vet.”

“My cat is _not_ fat and even if she were, it wouldn’t prevent me from taking care of Princess. A diet might be good for him, anyway. You feed him too much,” Andrew said. 

“The point is,” Neil continued breezily. There was a blue glint in his eye. No matter how annoyed Andrew was, he really liked seeing that expression in Neil’s stubborn face. “I’m just trying to help us all out. Have you considered that – ”

“I’m not giving up Princess.” 

Neil rolled his eyes. “If you hadn’t stolen my cat in the first place, we wouldn’t be here. You’re so goddamn stubborn.” 

Andrew huffed at the irony as Nicky and Erik looked on with amusement. “Move in with me then, if it bothers you so much,” he said. He meant it as sarcasm, a dumb joke to feed the flame in Neil’s eyes. 

Neil did not take it as such. 

“Okay,” he said easily. Andrew nearly choked on his breath. Someone coughed in surprise. Neil didn’t notice. “But we’re going to my apartment because I have a guest bedroom. I’m not sharing a room with you.”

“Neil, I don’t think Andrew – ” Nicky started.

“Do you seriously _want_ us to keep bickering at your house every other day?” Neil said. “I’m sure you’d like to get back to your own life.”

“Well,” Nicky stammered. “Princess is a good cat and I love having you two here, but…”

“Exactly. This works out.” Neil’s nod was final. He looked at Andrew with his pretty blue eyes, and Andrew knew he was deeply, deeply fucked.

* * *

Rationally, Andrew knew that he didn’t have to move in with Neil. He could have said no, let Neil have Princess and demanded further visitation rights for the cat he had somehow grown so fond of. 

Instead he moved his little belongings into Neil’s apartment and let Neil make room for him. It wasn’t exactly hard, most of his things were still packed from when he had moved into his apartment the year before, since he hadn’t bothered unpacking everything then. 

As it turns out, living with Neil wasn’t so bad. Andrew had locks on his door and Neil always knocked when he wanted something. Sometimes they’d spend the evenings sprawled out on the couch watching whatever was playing on the TV, the three cats lazing between them. 

They both cooked and they both cleaned up after themselves, and when one was working late, the other put leftovers in the fridge. There didn’t seem to be a problem. Except that there was a large glaring flaw that Andrew didn’t know how to work out. 

The kink in this arrangement was Neil himself. 

Andrew had caught his eyes lingering over Neil’s lithe form more than once before they had even moved in together. He was attractive with his blue eyes and burnished hair. Even with his scars, _especially_ with his scars, Andrew had a hard time looking away. Neil was interesting, and Andrew wanted to pick apart and study everything he knew about him until Neil was no longer a conundrum. It was looking to be a mighty task.

He never brought it up with Neil. Neil, who was stupidly handsome and completely unaware of it. There was no point in broaching the topic when it would never go anywhere because Neil simply did not like people the way Andrew liked him. 

He was okay with that, though. He could live with only looking from the corners of his eyes, never touching more than to tap on his hand when he needed his attention or brushing past him to get to the bathroom. He could deal with it, but that didn’t make it any easier. 

He’d been living with Neil for a couple of months when the subject of Andrew’s spiraling thoughts came to a forefront. 

They were on the couch again, worn and comfortable beneath them. Andrew had one arm thrown over the back as Neil scrolled through the movie selection. Tuesdays had become their unofficial-official movie nights, since both Andrew and Neil got off work early. Tonight, it was Neil’s turn to pick what they watched. 

He chatted while he perused Netflix, a light stream of consciousness about his day and his coworkers at the restaurant. Andrew couldn’t concentrate, could hardly bring himself to care what movie Neil chose when the topic had previously been something they bickered about relentlessly. He couldn’t think of anything other than Neil’s legs propped up in his lap, so simple as if the ease between them was nothing new. And really, it wasn’t. Andrew didn’t know when he had grown so comfortable with Neil.

The worst part was how Neil looked at him; shooting him occasional glances so fond, Andrew’s heart clenched in his chest. No one had ever looked at him like that, and Andrew realized his feelings for Neil had grown so much farther than just _attraction._

He didn’t know if he could do this anymore.

Sitting up, Andrew gently pushed Neil’s legs off of him. Neil didn’t seem to mind, he shifted until he was sitting up to give Andrew more room. The small action was another dart through his chest; Neil was always willing to give him space, no questions asked or points argued. Andrew thought he should hate Neil for it, but that simply was not the case. 

Neil was in the middle of talking about a customer he had to serve that day when Andrew interrupted him. 

“Neil,” he said quietly. Neil went quiet, expression turning confused and then concerned when he saw whatever was on Andrew’s face. Andrew wondered when he had become so easy for Neil to read. 

“I think I should move out,” he said. Neil’s mouth fell open, but Andrew didn’t give him time to speak. “You take care of Princess. He’s your cat, after all.”

“He’s our cat,” Neil said. His eyebrows scrunched, like he didn’t understand but he was trying to puzzle it together anyway. Andrew thought he saw hurt flash across his face, but he told himself he imagined it. He stayed quiet.

Neil took a tiny breath, his mouth pulling into an unhappy frown. “If that’s what you want,” he said. “I’ll help you move. But if you’re going because you think you’re intruding or…or that you don’t belong here or something, it’s not true. I like that you’re here.”

Andrew didn’t look at him. He got up from the couch and went to his guest bedroom without a word, Neil and Princess watching after him in silence.

* * *

The day Andrew was supposed to move out, Neil met him by the door. Andrew only had five boxes to take with him, and he helped load them into a truck he borrowed from one of his coworkers. 

“I can drive you to Nicky’s,” Neil said. He looked dimmer lately, lets vibrant with none of that stubborn fire Andrew had gotten to know. 

Andrew nodded and picked up the single cat carrier with Sir mewling inside. She was getting too big for it, maybe she _was_ a little fat. He carried her to the truck and opened the door. Neil still stood by the porch; he hadn’t moved an inch.

“Andrew, wait,” he said in a rush, hopping down the steps. Andrew turned to find him worrying at his bottom lip. He stuck his hands in his pockets and pulled them out again to fidget with the sleeves of his hoodie. “I don’t want you to go.”

“Neil,” Andrew started. He felt exhausted after another sleepless night imaging Neil’s face falling when he told him he could stay at Nicky’s while he found a new apartment. Seeing him now, stressed and upset, was too much.

“Move out,” Neil said. “if that’s really what you want, but don’t drop off the face of the earth. Don’t just – _leave_.”

“What are you saying?”

Neil approached the truck, and Andrew saw that familiar fire in his eyes. “You’re still welcome here. I liked what we had, the movie nights and dinners. Hell, Sir loves King and Princess. They all get along so well. And I just thought that…I don’t know. That doesn’t have to end.”

Andrew didn’t know how to tell him that he wanted it so badly it hurt, but because it hurt, he couldn’t. Neil didn’t know what having their simple domesticity did to Andrew, and he would never force Neil into something just because he ached for it. 

“I can’t do that, Neil,” Andrew said, voice barely above a whisper. When he finally looked Neil in the eyes, he let Neil study him, really _see_ him as he had seen him these past couple months. Andrew could have closed himself off, wiped away any traces of his feelings for Neil and locked them away, but he didn’t. 

Something seemed to click, because Neil’s face went slack.

“Oh,” he said. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah.”

“I – I like you too. A lot. For a while now.” The words tumbled out of Neil’s mouth so fast, Andrew thought he misheard. His brain was still processing the words when Neil took a step forward. “Is that why you’re running?”

Andrew placed the cat carrier by his feet. “I’m not running,” he mumbled, heart pounding in his chest. Neil’s expression was open when he tipped his chin and said _yes_ to Andrew’s wordless question.

Andrew pulled him in.

* * *

Andrew moved. It didn’t take long to unpack his things in Neil’s room because Neil had already made space for him. They converted the guest bedroom into a playroom for the cats, and when their Tuesday movie night came along, it was Andrew’s turn to pick. 

“That movie’s terrible,” Neil complained, his feet resting in Andrew’s lap with their cats curled around them. “Choose something else.”

“You,” Andrew said, sitting up so Neil’s legs fell out of his lap. He took Neil’s chin in his hand and peppered his lips with kisses that always seemed to send a thrill through him, no matter how many kisses they shared before. Neil hummed, falling back against the arm of the couch as Andrew made his way down his jaw to his ear. He bit at Neil’s earlobe and said, “don’t have a choice in the matter.”

Andrew moved back and Neil groaned. “Next week I’m putting on the worst movie I can find,” he said.

“And when you do, I am sure I will complain about it,” Andrew countered and pressed play. 

Princess yawned, stretching his body across the back of the couch, which had become his usual lurking place when he wasn’t lazing in Andrew or Neil’s laps. He blinked his eyes at Andrew and Andrew gave him a few scratches behind the ear until his purring was almost louder than the starting sequence of the movie. He caught Neil looking at him with so much fondness in his gaze, warmth flooded his chest.

He had to admit, he owed a lot to the little cat.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading :)


End file.
